Publications by authors named "Kazuki Maesaka"
Article Synopsis
- - This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab in treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in real-world settings, involving 222 patients from 19 hospitals.
- - The findings revealed an objective response rate of 22.0% and a median progression-free survival of 5.7 months, with certain factors (like younger age, more tumors, and macrovascular invasion) linked to shorter progression-free survival.
- - Despite a median overall survival not being reached, key risk factors for reduced survival included absence of hyperlipidemia, multiple intrahepatic tumors, macrovascular invasion, and elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios, with 36.0% of
Aim: Alterations in microbial composition of gut microbiota due to antibiotics (ATB) may lead to resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This study aimed to assess the impact of ATB use on therapeutic response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab.
Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 105 patients with HCC treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab as a primary systemic therapy from prospectively-registered, multicenter, cohorts.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate how direct-acting antiviral therapy affects the long-term health outcomes of patients with decompensated cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C virus.
- It compared 37 patients undergoing treatment with sofosbuvir and velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) to a historical control group of 65 untreated patients, focusing on rates of liver decompensation, hospitalization, and survival.
- Results showed that the treatment group had significantly fewer decompensated events and better survival rates over two years, but the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was still high in both groups.
Article Synopsis
- Combination immunotherapy using anti-PD-L1 and anti-VEGF antibodies is the standard treatment for patients with unresectable HCC, but it doesn’t benefit all patients equally.
- A study involving 85 HCC patients showed that high levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the blood correlate with poorer treatment responses and shorter survival outcomes.
- Specific mutations in ctDNA, particularly in the TERT gene, can indicate worse prognosis and may help doctors assess treatment effectiveness for patients receiving this therapy.
Background And Aims: Immunotherapy has become the standard-of-care treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its efficacy remains limited. To identify immunotherapy-susceptible HCC, we profiled the molecular abnormalities and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of rapidly increasing nonviral HCC.
Approaches And Results: We performed RNA-seq of tumor tissues in 113 patients with nonviral HCC and cancer genome sequencing of 69 genes with recurrent genetic alterations reported in HCC.
Article Synopsis
- A study compared the effectiveness of two cancer treatments, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and lenvatinib, for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), involving 272 patients in total.
- After analyzing the data, the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab resulted in a significantly longer median progression-free survival (8.8 months) compared to lenvatinib (5.2 months), although overall survival rates were similar.
- Additionally, the atezolizumab plus bevacizumab group maintained better liver function and had fewer severe side effects than the lenvatinib group, suggesting it may be a preferable option for HCC treatment.*
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers looked at blood biomarkers to see if they could predict which patients would be nonresponders, finding that high levels of IL-6 and interferon alpha (IFNα) were significant predictors.
- * Patients with high IL-6 levels had worse outcomes, such as shorter progression-free survival and overall survival, making IL-6 a potential new prognostic biomarker for those receiving this therapy.
Article Synopsis
- - Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, approved for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 2020, showed a 10.2% occurrence of hyperprogressive disease (HPD) in Japanese patients, defined by rapid tumor growth despite treatment.
- - Among 88 patients studied, 13.6% had partial responses, while 58% experienced stable disease; the median progression-free survival for the group was 5.0 months.
- - Higher baseline levels of α-fetoprotein, lactate dehydrogenase, and a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) ≥3 were linked to HPD, with NLR serving as a significant independent
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of ramucirumab versus sorafenib as treatments for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and high serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (≥400 ng/ml).
- In the analysis of 24 patients (13 on ramucirumab and 11 on sorafenib), progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer for those receiving ramucirumab, with median PFS of 2.7 months compared to 0.9 months for sorafenib.
- Overall, ramucirumab demonstrated a better ability to control tumor progression in HCC patients, despite similar response rates between the two treatments.
Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical course in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis after direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been used for HCV infection.
Methods: This multicenter study prospectively analyzed a registered cohort composed of 73 HCV-positive patients with decompensated cirrhosis who attended our 11 institutions between January 2018 and July 2018. Prognoses, including changes in the liver reserve, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), decompensation events, and survival, were analyzed up to July 2020, as was the initiation of DAA treatment.
Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by high intertumor heterogeneity of genetic drivers. Two multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), lenvatinib and sorafenib, are used as standard-of-care chemotherapeutics in patients with advanced HCC, but a stratification strategy has not been established because of a lack of efficacious biomarkers. Therefore, we sought biomarkers that indicate lenvatinib-susceptible HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) eventually leads to either deteriorated hepatic reserve or TACE refractoriness. Switching to molecular targeted agents after TACE requires preservation of hepatic reserve. This study aimed to investigate the predictive factors associated with early deterioration of hepatic reserve by repeated TACE prior to refractoriness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Preserved liver function may be an important factor affecting therapeutic efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with lenvatinib, but not all patients can be treated while preserving liver function. This study evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of lenvatinib in patients with poor liver function with and without portal hypertension.
Methods: This prospectively registered multicenter study analyzed 93 patients treated with lenvatinib.
Background And Aim: Although the serum sodium level has been reported to be a prognostic and predictive marker for the therapeutic effects of lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma treated with molecular targeted therapy, the serum sodium level has not been investigated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with sorafenib. The aim of our analysis was to assess the prognostic role of serum sodium levels in these patients.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 341 HCC patients treated with sorafenib between 2009 and 2012 in our hospital and other related institutions.
Article Synopsis
- - The study focused on understanding how hypovascular hepatic nodules impact the effectiveness of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
- - Analyzed data from 66 patients, finding that hypovascular nodules were present in 54.5% of cases, which significantly shortened the time to TACE refractoriness compared to patients without these nodules (7.3 months vs. 33.1 months).
- - Results indicated that having hypovascular nodules and being outside the up-to-seven criteria are strong predictors of quicker TACE refractoriness, highlighting their role in patient prognosis.
Rationale: Although esophageal compression due to cardiomegaly may be a risk factor of drug-induced esophageal injuries (DIEIs), the causal relationship between the two conditions has not been fully demonstrated.
Patient Concerns: We present a case of a drug-induced esophageal ulcer caused by left atrial enlargement in a 44-year-old woman with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a deep, circumferential ulcer in the middle thoracic esophagus.